Systems and methods herein generally relate to printing devices, and more particularly to devices and systems that determine the size and/or color of print media within the paper tray.
Printers have various types of media sensors in the paper trays. These sensors and their locations are highly tuned to detect standard media sizes; however, such sensors are generally not superior for non-standard sheet size detection, and will often prompt the user for clarification on media attributes (size, type, color). Sheet size sensors are in subsystems that currently are well-connected, and redundant. Also, codes on paper packages indicating standard paper sizes and colors are commonly scanned to help setup a paper feeder tray.
In one example, users commonly open a paper feeder tray, add paper, and close the tray. Tray sensors then attempt to determine sheet size, and the user is prompted to confirm. One can also manually define a custom size, or pick a color (including custom). For office environments the defaults are typically sufficient once the paper size is detected (plain white paper, 8.5×11 or A4, for example). For other environments such as small print shops or schools, paper color and custom sizes can play a greater role. Paper size sensing for non-standard media is problematic, but even for standard sizes there can be problems due to the guides not being adjusted properly and the somewhat crude granularity of the sensors.